To say I've been pleasantly surprised would be a huge understatement. In a few short months, we've organized a thriving group of more than 50 dues-paying members -- with another 70 on-lookers, judging by the mailing list -- and we have recently signed a lease to make this thing a reality.

We've met just about every Monday night at Manuel's Tavern to organize our effort and discuss specifics.

We spread out across the city to investigate dozens of potential properties for lease. I think we drove the real estate agents a little batty with all of our questions. We were thorough.

We analyzed other hacker spaces, with an eye on the lessons they learned. We made a huge effort to replicate things that went well with the others, and avoid things that did not.

Our wiki became a repository for all of our organizational work. In June, it received an average of 64 unique visits per day. (A nice power of two, no less.)

We have had a lot of fun doing this. We've talked, drank, debated, agreed, disagreed, and altogether have become better friends throughout the whole process.

I'm happy to announce that as of July, 2009, the Freeside Atlanta hacker space has become a reality!